I remember being excited to hear Temple of the Dog because it involved members of Green River and Soundgarden. And that album was really cool from a one-off standpoint. Just a project commemorated to the memory of a fallen friend.

I remember, seperately, being mildly intrigued upon hearing a buddy's tale about a band that involved GR and MLB members opening for Soul Asylum.

I remember getting the Pearl Jam record and listening to it at a medium pace for awhile, and having a colossal drug peak while watching a storm swirl around. That was good.

I remember liking the production value on Vs. a little better than the gloss of the first album, and liking the song "Blood" because it actually rocked.

But, you know, Mr. Mass Media just took this band out back and kicked the shit out of it as far as I'm concerned.

Every single time I turn on the MTV's or the Q101 (read: popular rock) radio stations, they are still playing the shit out of the first record. I mean, come on! There is more of a chance that you will hear a PJ song on the radio than, say, that new Outkast single that is so hot right now.

Of course it would help if PJ hadn't recorded the exact same record over and over half-a-dozen times. It might have also helped if they hadn't released the same music on 97,000 official bootlegs.

This is the most thought I've put into this band in 10 years.

And Matt Cameron is the only reason that I might pause to notice them going forward.

All I have to say is if Matt Cameron played drums for Metallica or Blink 182, I'd at least give it a serious chance, pretend to like it for 3 -5 minutes, and then NOT throw it out, hiding it under my bed.

Wether or not (or how often) something is on a radio station I have never listened to is not criteria for me to like or dislike something.

i don't think they are a good band, but i admire some of the things they did, once they already had enough money that it was no big deal for them to do them.

it's interesting a couple of people single out matt cameron's drumming as a positive aspect of the band. i think he's not a good rock drummer at all. the guy in blink 182 is much more impressive. he's actually a good drummer.

it's interesting a couple of people single out matt cameron's drumming as a positive aspect of the band. i think he's not a good rock drummer at all. the guy in blink 182 is much more impressive. he's actually a good drummer.

Do you play? Travis Barker is very superficially good. i.e. he just does lots of fast tricks. He isn't actually that good. Matt Cameron (while in Soundgarden) did a lot of time signature alterations (playing 6/8 while in 4/4 for example) and subtle ghost note beats/fills, etc.
Todd Trainer, for example, doesn't really do any tricks. His tempo is great. his solidity is great. Todd could play at 70 bpm and not screw it up. Travis could not. He'd have to throw in a half measure of 32nd triplets.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Travis is a bad drummer. I think he's over-rated. The argument i usually hear is "He can play some really great jazz stuff" yeah well so can millions of other drummers. Much more impressive from a similar genre is Josh Freese.

I have always seen them as the Johnny Depp of the music industry. Although fully mainstream they would rather find their own wierd nitch where they can challenge themselves and make art on their own terms.

Would Johnny or Pearl Jam have the same attitude if they never got the mainstream recognition? That is somthing we never could pretend to know.

Matt Cameron is a very solid rock drummer with great ideas on how to come at a beat that can be totally unexpected.
Listen to the first couple tracks on superunknown faded all the way to one ear and you'll see what Im talking about.

Ugh! How can this even be up for a discussion?! OK, sure, they took on TicketMaster. Great. They should be lawyers. As far as a band goes and as music goes, crap dipped in newer, still warm and wet crap. That lumberjack singing thing is as silly as it is affected. They sound EXACTLY like Pearl Jam!

Matt wrote:Green River sounded different and interesting, even threatening at times.

by "different and interesting" did you mean "like tiresome cock-rock"? because then you'd be right. maybe they'd threaten to steal your bottle of aqua-net and your mascara. green river were CRAP and pearl jam are worse crap, even with the frogs association. i can't believe this is being debated at all.

I have never, ever, knowingly heard a record by this band. Is that weird? (They didn't impact very heavily in the UK, unlike N******) I only know them by their as-detailed 'rockist' reputation which sounds like something I would dislike.
So I am going to petulantly say NOT CRAP on the grounds that they are clearly pissing people off which is a good thing.

This is an interesting one. Although I admire the Ticketmaster thing, and their ability to convince their label to release dozens of live bootlegs simultaneously is one of the more creative uses of rock star privilege I've ever seen, I've always been struck by how little Pearl Jam seems to understand the basic dynamics of what makes a good rock band. With some exceptions (I've always kind of liked "Daughter" and "Alive" had its time and place), the music isn't hooky or heavy or really distinguishable in any meaningful way. It's just there. Jeff Ament is a perfect example of what's wrong with them. I'm all for finger-picking bassists, but he adds nothing and makes the rhythm section sound completely feckless. And he looks ridiculous.

Eddie Vedder, on the other hand, I've always thought of as one of the biggest wastes of raw vocal talent working today. He's got a great voice, one that if paired with collaborators who weren't so musically bereft (and he doesn't appear to have a lot of great ideas on his own) could produce great FM rock. Check out Vedder's version of Victoria Williams' "Crazy Mary" (credited to Pearl Jam, but the band really takes a back seat) on the "Sweet Relief" comp for an example of what I mean.

First of all...half of the people in here don't even own a pearl jam record. So to say things like "they have recorded the same record half a dozen times" is lethargic. They have changed their style of music many times throughout the years and even mix it up on the same album. I do agree that Matt Cameron is possibly the greatest rock drummer ever. You CAN NOT compare him to drummers such as Travis Barker. Whoever made the point about Cameron being good, and Travis being fast is absolutely right. There is a difference, believe it or not, all you people who listen to punk. But to say that he drives the band is stupid as well. Every person in the band has played with many other bands before pearl jam and all but Eddie has 3 or more side projects. They are all extremely talented and can play any type of music they choose. You may not like the sound of their music, but assuming most of you are musicians in here, admit it...you could not sit down and write songs like Even Flow or Deep or even songs like Cropduster in a matter of days. From the lyrics to the music, both are amazing. And to whoever said that Eddie sounds like he really means what he is singing or saying...who doesn't? What kind of vocalist writes lyrics and sings them if he doesn't mean them? Besides Scott Stapp, who is one of the biggest Pearl Jam wannabe's that wont admit it, and is constantly badmouthing the boys. If you don't sing what you mean what are you singing for? The money? The Fame? Sure everybody wants it. But Pearl Jam doesn't strive for more. They don't strive to be the most powerful band in the world. They have respect for bands like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, and Nirvana, All the way to bands like The Doors, Neil Young, Stevie Ray Vaughn, The Dixie Chicks..., and bands like Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, and bands like the Buzzcocks. they have respect for everybody. So of course i am going to say that they are NOT CRAP. Just because their songs off Ten are overplayed doesn't mean they suck. It obviously means somebody out there likes them enough to hear Jeremy and Black 5 times a day. The radio stations control what gets played, not the band. If anyone hasn't noticed, they have made one music video in the past 12 years and it didnt feature them in it once. They dont need to make Videos for the purpose of promoting an album. They are happy making the music they love and want to make without the fame or money. Someone out there has to agree with me.